In the Opinion of Elon Musk, Only the AfD can save Germany

German democracy, which has existed undeterred since 1949 ,but is somehow always shaken to its foundations whenever anybody sings the wrong song or holds a televised debate with the wrong person, is once again on life support.

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Christian Lindner, head of the market-liberal Free Democrats, did much to trigger the present catastrophe on December 1st, when he said, the Free Republic should “dare more Milei and more Musk”.

Because there is little distinction between praising Milei and Musk, there ensued a brief period of establishment hyperventilation.

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Attacking the Messenger

Less than a week later, CDU chief and probable future German Chancellor Friedrich Merz did his part to denounce Lindner’s political wrongthink in a statement to Deutschlandfunk:

So neither the Argentinian President nor, how shall I put it, the American entrepreneur Elon Musk – let’s put it plainly – are role models for German politics in my view.

I don’t see where we can find similarities in German politics.

What Christian Lindner meant will probably remain his secret.

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The next day, Merz repeated the same denunciations, only more harshly, explaining to one of our extremely adult and far-sighted pantsuit talkshow hosts that “To be honest, I was completely appalled that Christian Lindner made....”

Merz said, is “Milei is really trampling on the people there”.

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Yesterday, all of this came to the notice of the (honestly rather tiresome) influencer Naomi Seibt, who posted a video statement to X rehearsing all of this old news to her largely American audience.

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Elon Musk Doubles Down on His Support for Germany’s Ultra-Right Party

He published a German op-ed calling AfD “the last spark of hope for this country.” 

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/elon-musk-tweeet-germa...

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AfD leader Alice Weidel "has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Come on!" Musk wrote.Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

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Musk published an op-ed in one of Germany’s biggest newspapers, Die Welt, doubling down on his earlier support forthe racist, far-right political party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In the op-ed—reportedly published online Saturday and in print Sunday—Musk writes that the AfD is “the last spark of hope for this country” and, essentially, that his vast wealth makes his politics a matter of public interest.

“As someone who has made significant investments in Germany’s industrial and technological landscape, I believe I have the right to speak openly about its political orientation,” Musk writes, according to a Google translation of the text.

As the country approaches a snap election on February 23, following the November collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government, AfD is pollingsecond, at 19 percent, behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union of Germany.

Musk outlines five areas in which he claims AfD reigns supreme:

• “Economic revival” — Musk praises the party’s focus on de-regulation, writing, “Its approach of reducing government over-regulation, cutting taxes, and deregulating the market reflects the principles that made Tesla and SpaceX successful.”
• “Immigration and national identity” — Here Musk calls for “the preservation of German culture and security” in the face of globalization and immigration.
• “Energy and independence” — Musk lambastes the current German government’s decision to “phase out nuclear power and instead rely heavily on coal and imported gas, as well as volatile wind and solar power.”
• “Political realism” — Musk lauds the party for eschewing “the political correctness that often obscures the truth” (sound familiar?) and argues that the AfD can’t possibly be far-right because its leader, Alice Weidel, “has a same-sex partner from Sri Lanka! Does that sound like Hitler to you? Come on!” (Yes, he actually wrote this.)
• “Innovation and the future” — Musk claims AfD “advocates for educational reforms that encourage critical thinking instead of indoctrination and supports the technology industries that represent the future of global economic leadership.”

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His op-ed was published alongside a rebuttal from editor Jan Philipp Burgard, who writes that “Musk’s diagnosis is correct, but his therapeutic approach that only the AfD can save Germany is fatally wrong.”

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Burgard notes that the AfD wants to remove Germany from the EU, which he says would be a “catastrophe” given the nation’s reliance on exports and the reliance of German citizens on the EU single market.

He further argues that AfD’s isolationist focus could harm its relationship with the US in particular—and “doesn’t Elon Musk want to see many Teslas rolling along Germany’s highways in the future?”

Burgard points out, Musk’s claims that the party isn’t so bad ignore the reality that Björn Höcke, another AfD leader, has been convicted—twice—of using banned Nazi slogans.

The publication of Musk’s op-ed elicited immediate internal backlash.

Die Welt‘s opinion editor, Eva Marie Kogel, announced on X on Saturday that she’d resigned after it posted online.

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Elon Musk then brought down the hammer on the German democratic order, retweeting Seibt’s video and remarking that “Only the AfD can save Germany”.

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Some people got out of bed and took to their keyboards to denounce Musk’s election interference.

His statement might be illegal, at any rate, it is very likely beyond the pale for an American to voice an opinion about German politics.

Germans absolutely never, ever, utter the slightest word about American politics and certainly would never advance negative opinions about the American President in the middle of an election campaign.

Our Foreign Office would never try to fact-check an American presidential debate! Our journalists would never depict President Donald Trump dressed a...! That’s just not done!

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Matthias Gebauer, who writes for Der Spiegel, observes that “Elon Musk… is openly promoting the AfD” 

Erik Marquardt, head of the Green faction in the European Parliament, says that “The EU Commission and EU member states should no longer stand by and watch as billionaires misuse media and algorithms to influence elections and strengthen and normalize AfD”.

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This “is an attack on democracy”, and “has nothing to do with freedom of expression”.

Dennis Radtke, CDU representative in the European Parliament, concludes that “Musk… is declaring war on democracy” and that “the man is a menace”.

“the erosion of our democracy is being fuelled from both within and without”.

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Julian Röpcke, who writes for BILD, believes that “This is interference in the German election campaign by a tech billionaire, who uses algorithms to decide what gets heard”.

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If Germany does not “respond with penalties, there will be no help for our eroding democracy”.

Jonas Koch, at Die Zeit, complains that “the richest man in the world is now campaigning for Right-wing popu...”.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has spoken out in favour of the Alternative for Germany party in the German Parliamentary election campaign. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” he wrote on his online service X.

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You can almost see Mr. Koch before you, clasping his pearls.

He notes that the Government is doing its best to weather this unprecedented assault on the German republic. He quotes long-suffering Government spokesperson Christian Hoffmann saying that “It’s not the first time that Elon Musk has commented on German politics”.

Olaf Scholz, he notes, “has been concerned about… X since Musk assumed control of it”, but he has inexplicably not yet decided to delete Government X accounts.

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Musk is not only increasingly involved in politics in the U.S., where he is advising U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and is to head a commission to reduce Government spending.

He is also exerting influence in the U.K.

He recently announced a donation of up to $100 million to the Right-wing populists around Brexit pioneer Nigel Farage.

As early as the summer, Musk had praised the AfD after the European elections.

The party was labelled as Right-wing extremist, “but the political positions of the AfD that I have read about do not sound extremist”, he wrote on X.

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Der Spiegel agrees that this is “Not the first time that this super-rich man has interfered in Germa...”.

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Musk “repeatedly takes potshots at Germany”,

he has “insulted” such national saints as “the former Chancellor Angela Merkel”,

he has “criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz”, and 

he has “even responded to tweets from the far-Right Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke”.

He responded to Höcke! Imagine that! It is just the height of political depravity, all that responding.

Now the billionaire and confidant of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has tweeted again…

Tweeted again! The absolute madman! Will he never stop?

…and made a barely concealed election recommendation for the AfD. “Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk claimed in a tweet. …

Under Trump, Musk is set to become co-head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.

The goal of the institution: to reduce bureaucracy, eliminate regulations and cut spending.

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That’s right, Musk wants to make American Government more efficient to reduce the federal deficit and the US national debt.

It takes truly perceptive journalists, like whoever wrote this unsigned Spiegel screed, to see through his clever lies.

Musk constantly uses X for political influence.

He not only interferes in German politics from there, but also tries to exert pressure on U.S. Congressmen. …

Since Wednesday, he has fired off various tweets to settle the U.S. budget dispute.

Trump invited representatives of the British far-Right [sic] party Reform U.K. at Trump’s private residence Mar-a-Lago in Florida, and Musk was present.

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He is influencing… things.

Florian Harms, Editor-in-Chief of t-online. Harms writes for a slightly downmarket publication, and so he has to display more indignation than everybody else to get attention.

“This sentence is an outrage,” Harms declares.

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There’s always a lot on the big-shot platform X.

Elon Musk bought the social media company.

He reduced the headcount by 80% and started to make money,

He eliminated the woke algorithms that restricted free speech

Elon Musk stated on X “Only the AfD can save Germany.” …

That’s his prerogative.

More than 208 million people follow Musk on X; he has configured the digital machines so that his posts are displayed more often than others.

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Vast swathes of the German corporate sector denounce the AfD all th...”, and as far as I know Harms has never complained about that even once.

If Musk were attacking AfD, of course, Harms would be totally thrilled with it.

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German political discourse is so insane, I always feel slightly ashamed translating this stuff for you. It feels like dishing out embarrassing family secrets.

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Democratic politicians should… refute Musk’s claim. And… they should take a particularly critical look at future investments by Musk’s companies in this country.

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If any of these people sincerely believe that Musk’s tweet will have any influence on the German elections in February, they are clinically insane.

The only thing here that might influence something is the unceasing hysteria of German establishment discourse, which seems intent on alienating powerful figures at the centre of empire, all for the indecent and passing thrill of a cheap moral orgasm.

Any political order that is truly threatened by a six-word remark from anybody – is not a political order worth having.

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Germany and UK Having More Wind, Solar, Batteries, etc., and Less Coal, Nuclear, etc., has Led to:

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1) Economic Stagnation

2) De-industrialization

3) High Inflation

4) High prices

5) Stagnant Real Wages

6) Social/Political Unrest

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All this is on top of the debilitating, expensive, out-of-control, illegal, immigration of tens of millions of cultural misfits, from all over, over many years.

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US Energy Consumption in 2023

US total consumption for all uses was 93.6 quad in 2023.

Over 77.1 quad (82.4%) from fossil fuels and 8.1 quad (8.7%) from nuclear fuels

After 35 years and several hundred $billion of subsidies, only 8.2 quad (8.8%) from renewables, such as:

1) wind,

2) pre-existing and new hydro,

3) pre-existing and new bio (mostly tree burning),

4) solar

1 quad = 10^15 Btu

https://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/visualized-u-s-energy-...

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World Energy Consumption in 2023

According to the Energy Institute's 2023 Statistical Review of World Energy, world primary energy consumption was 620 Exajoules (EJ) in 2023. Breakdown by sector:

Fossil Fuels: 505 EJ (81.5%), of which 

Oil: 196 EJ (up 2.5%) 

Coal: 164 EJ (up 1.6%) 

Natural Gas: 144 EJ (flat) 

Renewables (including pre-existing and new bio, but excluding pre-existing and new hydro): About 8% of the total energy mix 

1 EJ = 0.94781707774915 x 10^15 Btu, slightly less than a quad

https://www.energyinst.org/statistical-review.

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A Comment

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Not just Countries, but also certain US States should abandon environmentally destructive renewables, such as wind and solar, that produce lucrative opportunities for grifting and grafting by the elites, but only very expensive GRIEF for all others.
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In 2023, world energy consumption for all purposes was 82% from fossil fuels, per the Energy Institute. The US percentage from fossil fuels is the same
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Not just Countries, but also certain US States should abandon environmentally destructive renewables, such as wind and solar, that produce lucrative opportunities for grifting and grafting by the elites, but only very expensive GRIEF for all others.
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In 2023, world energy consumption for all purposes was 82% from fossil fuels, per the Energy Institute. The US percentage from fossil fuels is the same
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Senator Collins of Maine, one of the calculating politicians in a Washington snake pit, is holding out approving the new Secretary of Defense, because she wants the secret PROMISE of $billions of goodies.
She already denied approval of the Matt Gaetz nomination for US DOJ to show how powerful she is.

How he caroused with women during his earlier life likely is of no importance to her, except if money can be pilfered out of the federal $vault for Maine’s highly subsidized, grid-disturbing, environmentally-damaging, fishery/tourist-killing, 850-tall, experimental floating wind turbine contraptions, that produce electricity at 36 c/kWh with no subsidies, or 18 c/kWh after 50% subsidies, according to spreadsheet analysis.
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If Denmark gets NO BIDS for three multi-$billion, standard offshore wind systems, in the North Sea, how in hell would Maine ever get any bids for its dubious, unproven, experimental floating contraptions?
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The sooner politically connected, holy-cow, Aqua Ventus ceases to exist, and stops sucking from the government tits, the better for the long-suffering, over-regulated, over-taxed Maine people, who are trying to make ends meet in a near-zero, real-growth Maine economy, recently burdened by thousands of coddled illegal aliens who increase crime, increase social unrest, and drive down the wages of low-income workers.
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No wonder Trump got elected and took the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court
Enough is enough
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Democrats just do not get it

They do not deserve to be in government, say We the People!